SB Nation User Blog: grapejoos

ESPN "Experts' Picks"

grapejoos — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:11:32 -0000

ESPN "Experts' Picks"

ESPN's hockey "experts" have made their picks for the first round. They all picked the Caps across the board, which usually makes me nervous. However, if that's a bad omen for Washington, they're not alone, since a whopping 7 of the 8 series were consensus picks. They only differed on the Devils/Canes series.

Even Matthew Barnaby thinks that the Caps will win in 6, despite the fact that Theo "catches weird."

Bruce Boudreau on his love of the Leafs

grapejoos — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:46:23 -0000

Bruce Boudreau on his love of the Leafs

Thought you guys over here at PPP would be interested to see this writeup on Bruce Boudreau from thestar.com if you have not already. He talks about his life-long love of the Leafs and the author discusses how the Leafs handled him as a prospect. Worth a read.

And, of course, we'd love to have any willing parties back on the Caps' bandwagon again this year!

"If I asked you about your family, you would talk about them forever because it's something you...

grapejoos — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 02:52:39 -0000

"If I asked you about your family, you would talk about them forever because it's something you love," Laich said. "That's the way I feel about this team. This team is my life, and I love playing here and I'm passionate about playing hockey. So it's easy for me to talk about it."

From Tarik's nice write-up on Laich in the Post. I take back what I said about Ovi and C. Laich is the next captain.

Nylander for Kovalev - Could it work?

grapejoos — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:28:05 -0000

Per DMG's suggestion, I'm breaking this out into a fanpost.

All of the Kovalev talk and rumors that the Habs are shopping him made me wonder, would they take Nylander in a deal for Kovalev? I've gotten accustomed to viewing Nylander as untradeable, but I think if there is a way to move him, this might be the only way to do it.

The NMC: Nylander has a NMC, and getting him to waive that is a strict requirement. But there's some reason to think that he might to play for Montreal. Most players regard Montreal as one of the best cities to play in, if you can handle the pressure. Nylander's played in New York, so he can probably deal with that. Whether he's willing to waive the NMC at all is very much in question, but you'd think that if he would go anywhere, Montreal is a possibility.

Pros/Cons for Montreal: It seems like the Habs might want to move Kovalev no matter what. His $4.5m contract expires in the offseason and right now they think they're a better team without him. This would get rid of Kovalev. They are also lacking in center depth now and in terms of guys under contract beyond this year. They just lost Lang for the year and both Koivu and Lang are UFAs after this season (their only Cs under contract per nhlnumbers in 09 are Lapierre, Chipchura, and Maxwell; Higgins and Plekanec are RFAs). Nylander also plays well against MTL for some reason, so there might be some extra incentive there (4 points in 3 games this year, 2 points in 2 games last year, 4 points in 4 games in 06-07).

As for the cons, the problem with Nylander is that he has been lost for the Caps and is under contract for 2 more years for a lot of money. With any other team, I think the contract is a dealbreaker. I'm not sure it would be for Montreal for the reasons mentioned. This might be worth the risk for them.

Pros/Cons for the Caps: Getting rid of Nylander's contractual obligations beyond this year is probably reason enough for the Caps, and they would be getting back an enigmatic but talented Russian in Kovalev with a lot of playoff experience. Kovalev is a UFA after this year, so this would be an NBA-style "expiring contract" type of move. But Kovalev could have some upside on a team alongside Ovi, Semin, and Fedorov (and possibly Kozlov). You have to think that if there is any team where Kovalev could find some sort of fire, it would be with the Russians the Caps already have.

The biggest con for the Caps is that they would lose depth at center and, after this year, might not have another #2-type center on the roster. They'd also be getting an enigmatic guy who might not buy into a secondary role or play hard at both ends of the ice.

For me, this move would be a great way to successfully dump Nylander's salary and have Kovalev as a low-risk rental. If he plays well, the team can discuss bringing him back, but if he doesn't or chooses to sign elsewhere, they will have Nylander's money freed up and an army of free agents that want to play in Washington. Depending on what kind of extra picks/prospects Montreal would want as compensation for taking on Nylander's contract, this deal might be a no-brainer for the Caps.

What do you think, Caps faithful? Would you do this deal in principle? How much would you be willing to throw in to make it happen?

Net Pads

grapejoos — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 17:57:03 -0000

Net Pads

I'm sure there is probably a rule against this in the NHL, but this is pretty brilliant. Goalie pads that look like the net!

New SB Nation Mobile Interface

grapejoos — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:56:35 -0000

New SB Nation Mobile Interface

Any of you guys with smartphones: SB nation has a new, pretty decent mobile interface. It doesn't have the ability to post comments yet, but it's an improvement over looking at the full site in OperaMini on my Blackberry. Props to SB nation, get those comments going.

From ESPN.com's Page 2: DeSean Jackson's Ultimate Stadium! Hilarious. Hat tip to 700 Level for...

grapejoos — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:23:23 -0000

From ESPN.com's Page 2: DeSean Jackson's Ultimate Stadium!

Hilarious. Hat tip to 700 Level for posting this on BGN (links below).

http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2008/0916/pg2_jackson_350.jpg

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2008/9/16/615736/haha-this-is-hilarious#comments

Any NYC Cowboys fans going to the Giants game?

grapejoos — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:17:59 -0000

Any NYC Cowboys fans going to the Giants game?

Any NYC Cowboys fans going to the Giants game? I'm looking at buying a ticket (all over $200, sheesh) to the game but, frankly, I wouldn't mind sitting next to someone that would have my back if things got ugly (which I am in no way going to seek out or would provoke). There are ticket pairs on stubhub (and ebay) if any of you upstanding citizens out there are interested. Let me know.

Philadelphia wins a championship!

grapejoos — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:37:11 -0000

Philadelphia wins a championship!

Now that Philadelphia has triumphantly claimed the Arena Bowl title, maybe their fans can ease up a little...

Keeping Players in a Quality Organization

grapejoos — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:27:58 -0000

The signings of Newman and MB3 today made me ponder about the quality of the Cowboys' ownership and other sports owners. I came away thinking about how much credit is due to the Jones ownership and what they have done.

Don't get me wrong. This is not intended as a Parcells bashing session. This is a post about what Jones and co have done lately from a football and non-football standpoint. Since Jerry bought the team, he's won 3 Super Bowls under controversial circumstances. He forced out Jimmy Johnson in one of the greatest "what if" moments in the NFL (as in, what if the Cowboys dynasty stayed fully intact). He's made numerous, well-documented mistakes. But he has done one thing extremely well, especially of late: spent money on good players.

Maybe my memory is bad, but I feel like the Joneses do a remarkably good job of keeping good players and treating them well. Players get rewarded for playing well here. There doesn't seem to be any acrimony between players and the team. Philly and Rosenhaus couldn't get along, but it seems win-win for Rosenhaus and Jones. They have certainly given out bad contracts, but lately they seem like fair deals for quality players. The Cowboys have even turned some malcontents around as of late, though Pacman is surely a big test.

It is amazing to me that Dallas was able to sign MB3 and Newman, and it made me think about the players they've been able to retain over the years. I'm a fan of teams in other sports (Braves and Capitals, specifically), and those teams have tormented me with the players they've let get away over the years, for financial reasons or just not seeing the talent. I'm sure that's the case for many of you no matter who you root for. I am trying to think of great players the Cowboys have let go of too soon, and it's very difficult. Draft misses are a different story, so let's leave those out

I want you guys to help me out. Let me know which players have haunted you as former Cowboys. . All I can come up with is Jimmy Smith, and to a lesser extent Ken Norton Jr. And I have a pretty good feeling Julius Jones isn't going to end up on that list.